He was soon cast in his first British movie, playing a murderous actor in Train of Events (1949). Critic C. A. Lejeune praised his work in the London Observer commenting that he "adds good cheekbones to a quick intelligence and is likely to become a cult, I fear."[19] The Scotsman said "he should be regarded as one of the most hopeful recruits to the British screen."[20]
Categories: 1916 births1977 deathsAustralian Army soldiersAustralian expatriate male actors in the United StatesAustralian male film actorsAustralian military personnel of World War IIAustralian people of English descentAustralian male radio actorsAustralian male stage actorsBAFTA winners (people)Best Actor BAFTA Award winnersBest Actor Academy Award winnersBest Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winnersBurials at Hollywood Forever CemeteryMale actors from SydneySilver Bear for Best Actor winners20th-century Australian male actorsWe all say we're going to quit occasionally. I'd like to have been more adventurous in my career. But it's a fascinating and not ignoble profession. No one lives more lives than the actor. Movie making is like geometry and I hated maths. But this kind of jigsaw I relish. When I played Lord Nelson I worked the poop deck in his uniform. I got extraordinary shivers. Sometimes I felt like I was staring at my own coffin. I touched that character. There lies the madness. You can't fake it.[32]
Finch's next three films saw him support notable female stars: Sophia Loren in Judith (1966), Melina Mercouri in 10:30 P.M. Summer (1966) and Julie Christie in Far from the Madding Crowd (1967). He was reunited with Aldrich for The Legend of Lylah Clare (1968). The Red Tent (1970) was an expensive international adventure film, with Finch as Umberto Nobile.
Finch co-wrote and directed an award-winning short film, The Day (1960) and announced plans to direct a feature but it did not eventuate. He won his third BAFTA for Best Actor for No Love for Johnnie (1961), although like Oscar Wilde, the film lost money. He was originally chosen to play Julius Caesar in Cleopatra (1963) and filmed scenes in London, but when the film was postponed he withdrew; the role was recast with Rex Harrison.